"Happy birthday, Bobby" cake

September 18-19, 2010

I made my favorite father-in-law a birthday cake yesterday, which we surprised him with today after a birthday lunch at Cajun Boilers. If he happened to see it, we were going to say it was an anniversary cake for us, and I waited to ice "Happy Birthday" on it this morning after he went to church. I accidentally gave him my phone to look at some pictures after I had taken pictures of the finished cake! Oh no! But I said I needed it back because it had a picture Zach didn't need to see. *lol* "Anniversary" makes a great cover, even though he said he knew something was up. ; )

It was a really yummy cake, and I just love the icing tricks I've learned! Keeping the spatula moist definitely helps to get a smooth surface.

Happy (late) birthday, Bobby! We love you!!

Hospitality Under the Influence

[photo courtesy http://pimpstitch.typepad.com/blog/2008/11/i-3-craft-books-.html]

When I found out I wasn't keeping Sayer after all, I decided I wanted to go shopping with my birthday money. After lunch with Tommy at Cajun Boilers, Zach and I headed over to the Hot Springs Mall.

I wanted to go to J.C. Penney's because, with their rewards program, you can earn 10 free bucks a month. I found a pair of Bisou Bisou jeans for $11(!) and a pair of cute shorts. (I haven't paid this much for shorts in years; I never do because I hardly wear them, but I wanted to buy a fancy pair. ;)

Then I went to Vanity to use my 20% off coupon. I found this cute grey and black dress with Erin's help; I'm going to wear it Monday for our engagement anniversary celebration. I also got an adorable filigree flower necklace in black, silver, and grey with rhinestone centers. Unfortunately it's too long to wear with my dress, but I like it so much and it matches my black wardrobe, so I'm going to keep it!

Finally we headed to Books-A-Million so I could pick up some lighter reading than The Pilgrim's Progress. *lol* I got The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (finally!) AND I Like You: Hospitality under the Influence by Amy Sedaris.

I am in lust with this book. Seriously. It's sooooo funny!! It leaves me in stitches, as they say. Every time I came across it, I would comb every page reading bits here and there and laughing. I love the Sedaris' siblings' humour. Amy's advice, though often dark and twisted, still rings true while I cannot turn away from the photos of Amy dressed as every kind of hostess imaginable or of the food--faux or not--that feels like it came from a cookbook recovered from my Grandma Cellars' kitchen. The recipes don't seem too bad either. :)

Did I mention I only paid $7.97 for this book?!